MetalBite Review by Adam on 3/20/2001
Everyone knows that Black Earth was the kind of debut any band would kill for. For Arch Enemy, this meant that they had the dreaded task of producing a follow-up to such a album that could equal it or even surpass it. With this album; however, it is difficult to say what they have done exactly since it is a bit different from the Arch Enemy we heard from before. Sure the overall sound is the same, yet the band has gotten to writing more complex material this time around. For most of the songs it works to their advantage; however, several suffer from monotony. The Amott brothers do an excellent job on this album as they did with Black Earth, and this time drummer Daniel Erlandsson only plays on one track, the Godlike Beast of Man, while drum machine, Peter Wildoer, plays on the rest of the songs. This stylistic change in drummers also serves as a change for the band's sound as well. Another minor change, if you will, are Johan's vocals which are not exactly up to par with his delivery on Black Earth, but still have the ability to send chills down anyone's spine. Even though it is a stylistic departure from their debut, this is still the same Arch Enemy we know and love and they still kick ass!

Bottom Line: If you are look for complex and technical melodic death metal from Sweden, then this is your kind of cd!